We have three nights in Sanur staying at the Parigata Resort and Spa. Pretty decent digs with a great pool and a beach club…..actually just loungers on the beach. Day one just chilling and gathering up a few souvenirs. Not really much very interesting to report today.
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Next morning after an ok buffet breakfast we make a snap decision to hire a car/driver to visit a few beaches and a sea temple as well as to take in a Kecak Dance Performance.
Our new driver called Made (as was the previous one) albeit with less personality and more aggressive than the Balinese we have encountered to date. In any event we arrive at Dreamland Beach…..this is a truly weird place …. a long entrance drive bordered by half-finished projects providing for a Soviet era feel ending in a parking lot. There we were required to take a shuttle to reach the “beach” which required walking a gauntlet of shopkeepers in a rather disheveled building. The beach was ok but the context was really not……it is a hotspot for surfers but with a dangerous rip tide for swimmers !!
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After a record short visit we are off to Padang Padang, another beach with access via a cleft in the cliffs:
…..fishers and “beach bum” monkeys:
This is much nicer beach and there is infrastructure (albeit focused on surfers primarily) nearby similar to the locales we have visited elsewhere. There are a number of beaches here which cater to surfers as the “breaks” are considered world-class.
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Our next destination is Uluwatu another storied surf break and the site of Pura Uluwatu. It was built in the 11th century and is another of the important sea temples. Here our guide takes charge moving us through the crowds and pointing out good vantage points for pics. Another badass monkey area …..and Made is ever vigilant…ahead of us a woman has her glasses stolen from her face but a quick thinking guide effects an “exchange” 1 packet of peanuts for 1 pair of glasses…..
The temple itself is modest but the site is truly magnificent as you can see for yourselves…..
….the amphitheater is towards the top left of the next pic:
Next he ushered us to the ticket office and made sure we had decent seats for the Kecak dance performance which starts at 18:00, synchronized with the setting sun. The male ‘chorus” slips into a trance like state chanting “chak-a-chak-chak”immitating monkeys and other sounds as the performers re-enact the Hindu epic Ramayana, the familiar love story of Prince Rama and his Princess, Sita:
A less spectacular performance than the Legong Dance we saw in Ubud, as the Legong had a gamelan band as support, whereas the Kecak relies on the chanting of an all male chorus. Nevertheless, with that setting it was a very pleasant event to witness.
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An hour of traffic filled mayhem and we are safely back at Parigata.